My old (Win7) PC has been getting more and more unstable, to a point where it was crashing every few mins to hours…
So I sourced a replacement… Copied everything I could from the old one, and then started a fresh with Win10 on the new PC.
I was always worried about re-installing Sketchup due to the number of plugs I have insatlled over the years, so in a last “genius” move, I converted my old PC to a “Virtual Machine” with the intention of being able to boot it to look at Sketchup such that I can configure it exactly as it was
I am ready to do this now and launched Sketchup18 only to be told that I have no Hardware acceleration… Make sense really, but I figured I would atleast be able to lkunch it… I donj’t want to use it, I just want to be able to see the menus to know what Plugins I have.
Where do I go from here? Are there any tips that might help me…
First of all, does anyone know if its possible to get SU18 to work in VM? Any hacks to “force” it to work?
If not, is there anything I can do with the Plugin folders? I know of 2, one under “appdata/roaming” the other “programdata”… Could I simply copy the plugs over? Or do they need to be installed?
I wouldn’t bother with the VM thing in this case. You can see what extensions you have installed by going to User/App Data/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins. Make a screen shot of the list or whatever you need. Do not copy the extensions over from the old computer. Install them fresh from their sources to make sure you have the current versions and that they are loaded correctly. If you used the Sketchucation Extension tool to install extensions from Sketchucation, install that first and sign in. You can then install your bundle of extensions from there in one go. You might use this as a change to do some housekeeping and not install extensions you don’t use.
You could copy components, materials and styles if you have any.
Also, before you get too far along, make sure you correctly installed SketchUp 2018 on your new machine. That means right clicking on the downloaded installer and choosing Run as administrator. If you didn’t do that, or you don’t know, quit out of SketchUp and rerun the installer. using Run as administrator. Then choose the Repair option.
The extensions you install should only go into the Users App Data folder. The Program Data extensions are ones that are installed with SketchUp and those are intended to be left alone.
No need to uninstall SketchUp. Just remove the copied extensions and then do the repair.
Installing the extensions fresh should avoid loading errors when SketchUp starts and you probably don’t feel like chasing those. Well, maybe you’ve been locked up long enough that chasing load errors would be a good diversion.
Thast for that… SU now installed as Admin… And all my plugins are back.
One thing which is odd is that I installed a “bundle” (I think via Sketchucation) and they have gone into the ProgramData folder… Where as the ones I have installed ‘normally’ have gone into the appdata folder.
They still work OK, so I assume its ok to leave it like this, but I am not sure how this happened.
That is odd. they shouldn’t have gone in there, though, unless you chose that destination folder. I expect they will work where they are but the downside is that the folder might be overwritten if you have to do an installation repair or if there’s another release. (2020.1 was released a few days ago but there’s a possibility of a 2020.2.)
When I install a new extension via the Sketchucation tool, I get a window giving me a choice of where to install the extension. It defaults to the User/App Data location, though.
It gives me the option for sure when installing extensions… but when i did the initial “bundle” i dont recall being asked.
I am tempted to remove them and install them again (or individually if needed)…
Is there a way to delete them from inside Sketchup? Using the Sketchunation manager i can only see a disable button… so i have ben deleting the files from the folder and restarting SU.
By the way. I am on 2018 as its the last version which supports my 3D mouse (mine is obsolete so i have to use legacy drivers which dont work after SU 18). So if there are ever features in need in later versions SU i will have to think about upgrading my mouse… but as a caual user, this is unlikely.
You should be able to uninstall extensions using the Extension Manager in the Window menu. I would shut down Sketchup and restart to ensure all extensions are loaded and then go through and uninstall those you don’t want.
Might wait a little while and see if TIG comes along to offer some words of advice.
There are more extensions that use the ProgramData plugins folder, it is no problem when you install an update (minor release) I doubt if there is gonna be a 2018 maintenance, that year had the least of all (one for Mac)…
Its odd, I can’t work out how to delete plugins via the Extension manager… The Plugin and Extension manager bring up a window where you can move the plugins to the right to disable them… But there is do delete option…
The only way to delete seems to be to go into the folder in Windows and delete the necessary files… But I would have thought there was a way within the SketchUcation Manager…
You think are conflating several different problems…
The native Extension Manager only lists files in the User’s Plugins folder, and is also limited to what it can do with those if they weren’t installed from the EWH !
Anything in the ProgramData…/Plugins folder are not listed…
The SketchUcation Tools ‘Uninstall-Manager’ option isn’t on the SketchUcation-Toolbar, instead you open it from the SketchUcation menu item, then a similar dialog to the Plugin-Manager appears…
If you have more than one source of loaded files then use the dropdown list to show the files in that location - e.g. …User…AppData…Plugins vs. …ProgramData…Plugins
Move selected plugins from left to right to ‘uninstall’ them.
They are actually still there be set to not be loaded or listed.
So after SketchUp restarts they will no longer load or appear in the Plugins-Manager etc
When you install an RBZ file from the SketchUcation dialog and you have multiple folders available [e.g. if you have something like a renderer installer in ProgramData’s Plugins folder that is listed too as SketchUp accepts that as a valid ‘path’ for loading any Rubies] - then you are given a choice - the default location is always your User’s AppData Plugins folder, but if you select somewhere else the installation then goes in there !
I recommend that you only let proprietary installers - like renderers - use the ProgramData tree.
Everything else shoule be installed into the User’s Plugins folder, which is always the default option, and it’s the only option if you are using the native-installer…
If your permissions were screwed up [e.g. SketchUp was not installed properly] then you might find that the User’s Plugins folder was then unavailable to you and the ProgramData one was available and it was offered ?
Provided you manually move ALL*** installed RB files AND their associated subfolders from the ProgramData tree into your Plugins folder and restart SketchUp it should be OK.
***However, any other installers - like renderers - that use the ProgramData tree should not be moved - doing so might mess those up big time !
Cheers all for your help… I simply went in and deleted everything from the Programdata sub-folder… And then went back into Sketchucation and installed my “bundle” again.
And I was wrong it DOES ask you for a directory (just like it does when you install an individual extension).I selected the appdata one and everything is now working and installed in the correct directory now.
Can I just ask one thing… You mentiion SU 2020… Am I right in thinking (rememebering) That 2018 was the last version which was app based… And 19 & 20 are now web based? Or have i got that compeltely wrong?
If 19 and/or 20 are still “applicaitons”, there is a chance my 3DMouse workaround (which extended support into 2018) might work…
I think I need to check out the new release… I am a casual user using SU for a few 3d printing projects, so keep away from the new versions.
I was stuck on 2017 until a few weeks back where I heard about a workaroud to get my 3D mouse working… And it was as simple as moving the plugin from the ProgramData folder in 2017 into 2018.
So as 2019 and 2020 are ‘desktop’ apps, its possilbe (likely?) that the same workaround might work… I am going to find out…
